Tuesday, December 7, 2010

-The Evolution of the Terrible One BarcodeThis story on CycleExif included a link to this document about the evolution of the Barcode frame. It's a very interesting read that shows the slow and steady evolution of something as seemingly simple as a BMX frame.

-All about the detailsFantastic semi-subversive campaign for Amnesty Internationalvia The Cool Hunter

Riding in the snow is a new experience for me, in fact I have only a little [distance] experience with the snow in general. But it is an experience that I must embrace if I am to continue my life here in Berlin [granted the public transport is great but I prefer to ride].

We had our first real snow fall last week and it did force me in to a train in the morning as 1.5" slicks do not make good snow tyres. That is until I learnt about the zip-tie snow modifications. After that I was rolling and sliding my way around the city, I kept catching myself laughing out-loud between cautious moments where are all my concentration was focused on not falling under a passing truck. Great fun!While it does look ridiculous, it does also work surprisingly well. Now that the roads are ploughed and salted grip levels are generally only a little less than a rainy day I have taken them off as they make turning a little treacherous when not in the snow. Also the cold makes the ties very brittle so I had already lost many of them, but next time the snow falls I will be putting them on again!

Obviously don't try it if you have rim brakes! This is the better option if you have the money to spend:

(The following is blatantly copied from another blog I write for: Adelaide Bike Polo)Nicky and I doing battle with Max.

I thought it was time for a little update from the dark side of the globe.It's getting cold over here and as such the play is going indoors, in fact there have been indoor tournaments the last two weekends. The most recent was in Konstanz, unfortunately I couldn't get there (Halloween in Berlin meant 3x alleycats followed by parties, sometimes polo get relegated), by all accounts it sounded like a great time.The first was Polomotion in Utrecht, The Netherlands; this one I did have the pleasure of attending. I had the honour of playing there with guys that some of you may remember: Nicky and Chris from Antwerp Fixed.The tournament was hosted in a hall of one of Europe's largest bike trade fairs: Bike Motion. This meant that we were inside in the warmth, had a steady crowd of interested onlookers all day, and could wander around the halls drooling over all the bike porn between games.Although there was only one court, each of the 26 teams managed 6 games and finals for the top 8. Unfortunately we, The Antwerp Diamonds, narrowly missed out on making the cut: we reached equal 8th but lost out on goal difference.Nicky and Chris with Thomas: our most generous host and either a Teddy bear, or Grizzly bear, it was never settled.

Utrecht was a beautiful city, one that has embraced the bicycle more than any other I have visited. Seeing middle class families riding along in convoy was a heartening sight, along with the numerous beautiful women on bikes!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Since the posts have been rare of late I thought I'd make up for it in terms of minutes spent viewing and the most effective way to achieve this is by posting videos. Luckily I have numerous videos that I had been intending to post, so here goes, watch them all at your peril [or al least to the detriment of your productivity]

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Here's one to file under "Don't do this at home (but I'm glad someone did)"

I tried in vain to watch only a few minutes and merely leave it playing for the glorious sounds, but try as I might it was just too captivating. If you can't afford the time to watch it all, the first and the last few minutes give a good overview, but be sure to see the very end (it's a happy ending).

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I'm not sure if I've been slacking off with this blog, or I've just been doing other things instead, but what I have been doing continuously is taking photos. This is a mildly infuriating [oxymoron?] thing to do due to the scratched lens on my camera, although I'd rather do it then let that stop me.Anyway, I plan to put some photos up here more often, starting with this bike I stumbled across yesterday. Obviously belonging to a Wrench Monkees fan, that bike was a great contrast to the sedate, leafy street I found it parked on.

Monday, September 13, 2010

If you've ever wondered how a mechanical watch works, and who hasn't, do yourself a favour and spend a few minutes watching this video. At every chime of the clock you'll be thankful you did. The oversize models used are works of art and the narration is classic 1949.

I posted about the AURORA X MONOW collaboration jerseys a little while ago and I just received a note about it from Sebastian. Since I love the work he's doing, and he asked so nicely, I thought I'd let you all know that that a second run is going to press as we speak. Get in fast with your pre-order as the first batch sold quickly. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to get in to this order either as all my funds are going to sampling the produce of the local Brauerie(n..?) and train tickets to others/polo tournaments!Good luck with the new run Sabastian, it's great to see a small studio succeeding.

Friday, September 3, 2010

My mate linked me on to The System a few days ago and it's been open in my browser since, I flick through a few pages when I need a break. Not good for productivity, thanks unnamed friend, ya jerk! But I still love ya.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

I may be away from motorcycle ownership for the time-being, (well, that's not entirely true, I still own them both but they are a few thousand km's away) but I still try to stay in touch with the scene from time to time. However enthusiasm is easy to let slip when I have no immediate prospect of riding* but this video quickly brought back a large slice of that.The scene, the sounds and the details all just make me long for riding and wrenching.The bike is the Falcon Motorcycles Kestrel, that I posted about on another blog I write for occasionally**, it's a genuine work of art. Please, for your own sake, head over to their site and spend a few minutes checking out the details and story of the Kestrel, I promise you'll be inspired!

*I did find a nice and complete yet neglected Le Mans 850 the other day, I took the details for when I get some income sorted here....**yeah, I know, blatant plug

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

I just crossed the border in to Washington state and my first impression upon pulling in for a coffee is that they have that god-damned-stupid sales tax here. It's so stupid! Coffee for $2.50? Sure, that'll be $2.71. Come on people, it's not too hard to include the tax in the price.Anyway, that rant is out of the way for the moment. There was no such foolishness down in Oregon, I had such a great time down there where I spend most of my time in Portland. I love that city! I'm open to propositions of marriage that would allow me to move there....Many thinks must go to my most gracious and generous host, Jill. She took in a stranger on the weekend of the 4th when she already had a visitor staying and showed me such a great time. Thanks Jill, you're a doll.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's been a while between posts but I make no apologies as I've had better things to do other than sit at a computer!I've been loading some photos to flickr when I can so if you want to be kept a little more up-to-date I suggest you subscribe to that feed (little orange square on right hand side of address bar, I recommend google reader).Currently in yet another Starbucks (very handy resource for electrical outlets and wi-fi) and while here I learnt of yet another selections bike nuts. I'm learning that there must be some form of inherent connection to adventure in those who ride, be it motorised or not. The first adventurers for the day (other than the numerous pannier laden cyclists and the guy on the Canadian plated GPX250, complete with L plates) are Jack and Lauren who I just missed the opportunity to meet in San Francisco. They are currently pushing their tandem across America over the next few months. They are finally off and rolling after some of the common plane related issues, check them out here: There Will Be Hills.The next was Tim, who I met right here, right now. He is riding solo from California to Alaska. He exploits can to followed here (when he gets around to working in it between rides).On that topic the number of cyclists on the road is unbelievable, though for some reason 99% of them are heading south so they don't affect me at all. Another pattern I've been observing is that of the motorcyclists on the road: the vast majority of bikes out there have two cylinders and three headlights, and of those almost all have those stupid little pudding bowl helmets.Anyway, time to hit the road again.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

I'll get around to doing a proper travel update soon but for now I'll just say that Kogi BBQ was completely worth the trek (and the wait)!I don't recall how I found out about these guys but they were on my LA list from that moment, I only had a few must see things around there and this was one.After plotting a course to sample their spicy pork burrito and short rib taco, I highly recommend tracking them down!In-N-Out was pretty decent too, but not too earth shattering to any corner deli burger from home.